Welcome to the Blog on Clara and Wilson McGarvey!

Clara's amniotic sac ruptured on June 7, 2011 when we were 24 weeks and 5 days pregnant. Ten days later, Clara and Wilson were born. They have already enriched our lives in ways we couldn't have imagined, and we wanted to share those experiences with our friends and family. So sit back and enjoy the read - they are full of excitment and surprises!

Monday, February 20, 2012

I just returned home from the Louisville Mothers of Twins Club which meets once a month. That should have been my first clue that having twins was "different"; there isn't a "club" for parents of singletons. But it is a great resource and I made a friend who also has boy/girl preemie twins.

Speaking of preemies, we had our neonatal follow up appointment last Thursday and the doctor, Dr. Bibb, was very pleased with Clara's and Wilson's weight gain and development. She looked at us and said "you are doing a fantastic job". That was so great to hear from an expert who truly sees it all. Clara gained 6 pounds and 7 ounces since our last appointment (October 6) and Wilson gained 6 pounds. After the appointment with the neonatal we were re-evaluated for First Steps. First Steps is a federally funded program that provides early intervention for children with developmental delays. Fortunately, we did not qualify. However, there are exercises we have to work on with Clara and Wilson. If they do not improve in holding weight in their arms while on tummy time, we will qualify for First Steps and a physical therapist will come to our house once a week. Unfortunately, the baby casino (exersaucer - the thing where they sit in a seat, feet hanging down and play with toys attached to this circular device) is closed for business. Any standing toys are off limits for them because preemies have different muscle tone than full term babies. Typically their muscles are too tight or too loose. Of course, we have one of each. Wilson's muscles are too tight and Clara's are too loose. I will point out what I mean in the pictures below. While we got a great report from the doctor, it was a tough reminder we still have challenges to overcome.

October 6, 2011 (1 month follow up)

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February 16, 2012 (4 month follow up)

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Wilson - 7 pounds

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Wilson - 13 pounds

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Clara - 12 pounds 10 ounces

Wilson's right arm is out in front, he needs to have it close to his chest bearing weight on it.
Clara is eating the blanket, she needs to keep her head up and put more weight in her lower back.

Wednesday, February 15, 2012

Big news! Our mellow fellow has not been so mellow lately. Today we found the culprit; Wilson's first tooth! We thought he was teething because of the excessive crying, drooling, and gnawing on anything within reach. On Monday afternoon, we saw his first little tooth popping through the gum line. We are very scared for Clara to start teething, let's just say she can be a bit, um, dramatic.

More big news! Both Clara and Wilson are now taking predictable naps...WE LOVE MISS MICHELLE!!!!!!! She finally cracked the code and has both kids napping! Foolishly, we believed it would work if we put Clara down for a nap just like Miss Michelle. Below is the play-by-play of the afternoon nap last Saturday.﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿﻿

Clara pulls the blanket over her face when Chris picks her up because she is crying.

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After 1 hour and 15 minutes of fighting her nap,Clara surrenders. Her sock was a casualty of war.

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Getting Clara to sleep at night is equally challenging. She has not mastered the art of self soothing and is very particular about how she likes to be calmed down. She does not like to be rocked or swayed, oh no, she wants to be walked. That's right, walked. We walk and walk and walk. We walk in circles around the the upstairs of our house like hamsters in a wheel. However, I would walk 500 miles just to get Clara to sleep.

And speaking of walking 500 miles, MORE BIG NEWS! Morgan is running for the State Senate in the 19th District of Kentucky. Morgan will go from walking Clara to walking precincts. When we said we wanted 2012 to be less eventful than 2011, we didn't mean it. That's just not our style; never a dull moment in our house. Fortunately, there is not a Republican candidate so Morgan's campaign will only last until the Primary Election on May 22.

With me back at work, Morgan busy with work and campaigning, and two babies on house arrest until flu and cold season ends, finding time to catch up with each other is challenging. We found a solution that works for everyone! On Saturday mornings at 9:00 a.m. we load everyone in the car and drive around Louisville. The babies nap, I get Starbucks, Morgan gets a hot breakfast, and we have time to catch up. So if you see a blue Buick that looks like a state trooper's car following you closely on Shelbyville Road, don't be alarmed, it's just the McGarvey's out on a date.

This Thursday we have a follow up with the neonatal group. It is an important appointment because they are evaluating Clara's and Wilson's development. Fingers crossed all goes well. We will be sure to update the blog after our appointment. And Friday is their eight month birthday! We never posted the seven month birthday pictures so we'll post both seven and eight month pictures next weekend. Until then, below are pictures from Clara and Wilson's first Valentine's Day.

Miss Michelle made these adorable Valentine's Day onesies.

And Clara and Wilson looked great for the pictures until Clara decided to hit Wilson in the face.

Fortunately Mac was there to help soothe (ok, Mimi got the process started)
and we were able to go to dinner alone on Valentine's Day!

Thursday, February 2, 2012

The biggest news of the last two weeks was Uncle Dave returning from Afghanistan and meeting Clara and Wilson for the first time. Dave closely followed all the excitement from afar and we were thrilled for him to finally meet his niece and nephew. Of course, when the big introduction finally happened, we forgot about Dave being a single, childless 35 year old male. His initial excitement quickly morphed into fear that one or both of the kids would spit up on him. It was an endearing response and a perfect introduction to Uncle Dave. Throughout his week at home Dave was able to spend a lot of time with Clara and Wilson. His fear of babies quickly subsided and, once his guard was down, Wilson made sure to spit up on his shirt.

Uncle Dave joyfully (and cautiously) met Clara and Wilson

Clara was on her best behavior for Uncle Dave.
The effort was appreciated by everyone.

Almost six months in a combat zone and that is probably the most
disgusted Dave has been in quite some time.

Bull's-eye!

THE CRAZY LADY

About two weeks ago, Michelle, our nanny, called to let us know the power was out. Without electricity, she did not want to open the refrigerator to get out Clara and Wilson's bottles. That was the most immediate concern, but we also had to address the possibility that power would not be restored in time to save the milk stockpiled in the fridge and the deep freeze. Not wanting to relive the headache we experienced during a power outage this summer, Chris immediately lept into action.

When Chris got home, Michelle told her an LG&E truck had just driven by our house. Chris jumped back in the car and went on a mission to find the LG&E workers. Chris is a results driven woman and when she sets her mind to something . . . watch out. Unfortunately, these poor LG&E workers didn't see her until it was too late. They were working on the power in someone's yard and Chris pulled over, got out of her car and waited for them on the grass. The foreman politely approached and assured Chris they would be finished soon. I don't think he ever saw the attack coming. Bam! Chris was on him and wasn't letting go. She urgently explained about the twins, the milk, and everything else. The LG&E foreman kindly deferred and explained they would get to our house as soon as possible. He even offered to take Chris' cell phone number and call her when they got to our block. That was not good enough. Chris made him call her while they were standing in some stranger's yard. She proudly explained later this was to capture his cell phone number so she could check in on his progress. (And yes, she did call).

Not more than a few hours, and three cell phone conversations with Joel the LG&E foreman, later, our power was restored. Joel is probably on our Christmas card list, Chris is probably on a customer "watch list", and I'm glad I was in depositions. To make things worse better, Chris sent an email to the CEO of the largest utility company in Kentucky in an effort to reward Joel for his great customer service. We refer to this incident as "the Crazy Lady" story, but we should be diplomatic and call it "A Mother's Love."

Wilson is happy Mom saved his food supply

WHOLE FOODS

Last Saturday was another big day at the McGarvey house; Clara and Wilson started eating rice cereal! I thought rice cereal would be similar to Rice Crispies, but there is no snap, crackle, or pop to the slime we force fed our children. Rice cereal is a textured liquid that resembles incredibly runny Cream of Wheat. However, it is served with a spoon and is supposed to prepare Clara and Wilson to eat other foods. Basically, rice cereal is like a gateway drug - we hope they'll eat this and be willing to try other things.

Wilson immediately took to the rice cereal and has eaten some every day this week. Clara is a pickier eater and wants nothing to do with the bland liquid we're eagerly convincing her to try. No amount of airplane noises, funny faces, or kind words will convince her to enjoy the rice cereal experience. Hopefully she'll get better at eating so we can move them along to apple sauce. Yum!